Updates 9 Dec 2012: Marked with *.

Will the Lowndes County Commission Tuesday evening finish railroading through their non-solution to solid waste disposal, without shouldering its legal responsibility to protect the environment and the public health, safety, and well-being from solid waste, and what’s this about a vendor change? Will the Chairman once again invite a developer to speak in Monday morning’s Work Session without letting anyone else speak? Will the Commission change the zoning code and rezone inside and against the Moody Exclusion Zone for that same developer they already provided $130,000 in road construction labor to back in 2007? Does Naylor need the area’s nineteenth Dollar General, and who’s behind it, anyway? How come the Five Points library is still on the agenda even though SPLOST VII failed? And what are they doing to the Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance this time? Come Monday morning at 8:30 AM and Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM and see! Better yet, also call or write your Commissioner before then.

Trash

6.b. Solid Waste Ordinance

Will the Commissioners finish railroading through their already-failing non-solution to solid waste disposal in the last session of this Chairman? The plan for which they held zero public hearings while any of the Commissioners who voted on it this October were on the Commission, yet someone down there feels free to anonymously ridicule concerns about that plan failing? Two citizens spoke up anyway, even though Citizens Wishing to Be Heard was after the scheduled vote last time, and another on this blog, all willing to state their names, unlike the anonymous pro-trash-railroad ridiculer. What was that unspecified new information that caused them to table it last time, anyway?

8.b. Exclusive Franchise Agreement for Residential Solid Waste Collection Services with Advanced Disposal Services of Central Alabama, Inc.

What happened to Veolia; what’s this about a different vendor than they previously voted for?

* APS bought Veolia.

* If privatization is bad for Moody AFB, why is it good for the county’s public service of collecting trash?

7.e. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District — Walker Run (Twin Lakes Rd) 22 lots
7.f. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District — Laurelbrooke Phase Two (Old Pine Rd) 16 lots
7.g. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District — Glen Laurel Phase II (Old Pine Rd) 30 lots
7.h. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District — Quarterman Estates West Phase 1 (Whitewater Rd) 82 lots
8.a. Special Tax Lighting District Correction — River North Phase I (Shiloh Rd) 26 lots

This agenda has five (5) Decorative Special Tax Lighting Districts on it. (And no, Quarterman Estates has nothing to do with the Quarterman family.) Why will the Commission not even consider a special tax district for solid waste disposal? Is decorative lighting more important than community public health and safety? Will the County Commission take up its legal responsibility to protect the environment and the public health, safety, and well-being from solid waste, or will it continue to railroad through a non-solution that will result in more dumping on roadsides and private property and burning of toxic materials?

Moody Exclusion Zone

7.d. TXT-2012-02 MAZ II Residential Density

Will the Commission change the zoning code to help a specific developer? The same developer for which back in 2007 they provided $130,000 in road construction labor?

* Even though Houston County has similar zones and is actually buying up houses in them to prevent encroachment on Warner Robins Air Force Base.

7.a. REZ-2012-17 Lowndes Development, LLC, Davidson Rd MAZ II and MAZ III to R-10, County Water & Sewer, ~23.49 acres

Will the Chairman once again invite a developer speak at the work session without letting anybody else speak on the same rezoning? Will the Commission radically rezone inside the Moody Exclusion Zone (MAZ) for that same developer? Over the objections of Moody Air Force Base, the Chamber of Commerce’s Governmental Affairs Council, the Planning Commission, and at least some local landowners?

* Looks like it so far, unless enough people object.

Do we need a nineteenth Dollar General?

7.c. REZ-2012-19 Naylor Dollar General, US Hwy 84 East, E-A to C-G, Well & Septic, ~2 acres

Does tiny Naylor really need the area’s nineteenth Dollar General? This agenda, unlike the Planning Commission agenda, at least says Dollar General. But this agenda omits any identification of the developer at all: no mention of Robinson Milltown Properties LLC or of Bobbie Ann Robinson, both of 2605 Hall Avenue, Tifton, GA 31794. Yet anyone who stands to object will have to sign up in advance, state their name and address, and whether they are a Lowndes County resident or property taxpayer.

Library and Alcohol

8.h. New Main Library — Construction Manager At Risk Selection

Speaking of railroads, apparently they’re moving ahead on the Five Points library even though SPLOST VII failed at the ballot box. How are they funding it? Will we get some SPLOST VII project list public hearings or reprioritization before it gets on the ballot again?

* Houston County had public hearings and prioritized for fewer road projects in favor of helping their airport, broadband, and protecting their Air Force Base, and voters passed their SPLOST in a landslide.

6.a. Revision to the Lowndes County Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance

And what are they doing to the Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance this time? We don’t know, because they still don’t publish the packets they’re looking at when they consider at the Work Session and vote at the Regular Session.

* Staff says they’re coalescing previous changes into the body of the ordinance.

The Agenda

Here’s the agenda.

-jsq

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2^nd Floor

1. Call to Order
2. Invocation
3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
4. Minutes for Approval
   1. Work Session — November 12, 2012
   2. Regular Session — November 13, 2012
5. Appointment – Valdosta/Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals
6. Ordinances
   1. Revision to the Lowndes County Alcoholic Beverage Ordinance
   2. Solid Waste Ordinance
7. Public Hearings
   1. REZ-2012-17 Lowndes Development, LLC, Davidson Rd MAZ II and MAZ III to R-10, County Water & Sewer, ~23.49 acres
   2. REZ-2012-18 Lakes Blvd., 1006 Lakes Blvd., C-C to C-H, County Water & Sewer, ~0.87 acres
   3. REZ-2012-19 Naylor Dollar General, US Hwy 84 East, E-A to C-G, Well & Septic, ~2 acres
   4. TXT-2012-02 MAZ II Residential Density
   5. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District — Walker Run (Twin Lakes Rd) 22 lots
   6. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District — Laurelbrooke Phase Two (Old Pine Rd) 16 lots
   7. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District — Glen Laurel Phase II (Old Pine Rd) 30 lots
   8. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District — Quarterman Estates West Phase 1 (Whitewater Rd) 82 lots
8. For Consideration
   1. Special Tax Lighting District Correction — River North Phase I (Shiloh Rd) 26 lots
   2. Exclusive Franchise Agreement for Residential Solid Waste Collection Services with Advanced Disposal Services of Central Alabama, Inc.
   3. Budget Calendar FY 2013
   4. Georgia Department of Transportation Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant
   5. Adopt Resolution accepting infrastructure for Ivy Gate Subdivision
   6. Funding Approval for the purchase of a new Netclock
   7. Funding Approval for a new 911 Phone System and continued maintenance
   8. New Main Library — Construction Manager At Risk Selection
   9. Refunding Revenue Bonds
9. Bid- Demolition of the Courthouse Annex
10. Reports
    1. County Manager
    2. CALEA Report
11. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

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